1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to casino card games and, more particularly, to a variation of poker.
2. Background of the Invention
U.S. Pat. No. 4,807,885 is a card game wherein the cumulative value of the discards are continually added up to a chosen value "99" to be reached in the game. FIG. 4 of the '885 patent has special "pass" cards, "wild" cards, "reverse" cards, "no play joker" cards, and "automatic ninety-nine" cards. The "pass" card allows a player to pass to the next player; with a "reverse" card, a player shifts the direction of play; a "no play joker" card cannot be played thereby effectively reducing the playable cards in a player's hand, and "automatic ninety-nine" card moves the count of the discard stack to ninety-nine. The "wild" cards allow the player to adjust the cumulative value of the discard stack.
WO 92/16269 is a conventional gaming card game with added symbols for separate wagers. In one embodiment, two additional "no value" playing cards are added to the deck for an additional wager on if the two "no value" cards will be dealt consecutively during play of the underlying game.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,333 has a card game with a standard deck of cards wherein face cards and the ten card have a value of zero, and numbered cards retain their natural value except for fours and fives which are removed from the deck. To win one must come close to a target value in a suit.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,431,408 permits a player upon receiving a wild card to optionally reserve it for use in a subsequent hand. If the player elects this option, he/she receives a replacement card.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,065 has a standard card deck for poker, and each player receives a hand of five cards. A sixth card, not a part of the hand, is delivered to the player face down. The player has the right to improve the ranking of the dealt five-card hand by discarding up to five cards and replacing them. Thereafter, any cards in the hand with the same value as the sixth card are wild.
3. Statement of the Problem
Live card games continue to be popular in casinos around the world. One popular casino card game is poker and variations on poker have occurred over the years which have increased participation and excitement by players of these games at casinos. A need exists to provide variants on the game of poker.
A number of well-known board games, not generally suited for the casino environment, have also entertained the populace for a large number of years. A need exists to adapt such well-known board games to the casino environment. In general, such board games normally take a long period of time to play in the family or home setting. In the casino environment, such periods of time are too long and, in adopting a board game to the casino environment, a need exists to speed up the game while preserving the excitement and popularity of the board game.
In card games in general, all cards in the card games have value with respect to the play of the game. For example, in poker, each card in the deck has at least one value (i.e., rank or suit). When certain winning combinations of cards exist in a poker hand, the player wins. Conventional house banked poker games have straights and flushes as winning combinations which pay back winnings (usually multiples of the ante) to the player. While such combinations add variety to the game, a player must study the hand in order to play for these combinations. A need exists to simplify such analysis in order to provide a modified poker game which eliminates such straights and flushes winning combinations and the payoffs for them.
The use of a subset of cards in a casino card game called "wild cards" is conventionally known to exist. Wild cards also provide excitement to the game since a player, based upon the other value cards in the hand can select a value for a wild card appearing in his or her hand. A need exists for other "subsets" of cards in a card deck to make the casino card game more exciting to players.
Hence, an overall need exists to provide a new card game adapted for the casino environment which preferably adapts popular board games to the casino environment, which provides a poker-type card game with "straights and flushes" eliminated and which provides entirely new and different card subsets, all of which are designed to add excitement, speed, and rewards to players of such games at casinos.
4. Solution to the Problem
The present invention provides a solution to the aforesaid needs. The card game disclosed herein is a form of modified poker in which "straights and flushes" are eliminated. Furthermore, the card game provides a structure in which the play of a conventional board game may be adopted into. In the preferred embodiment, the conventional board game is MONOPOLY.RTM..
The card game of the present invention incorporates several new subsets of cards in a deck which have application to casino card games in general and, in specific, to the adaption of a board game in a modified form as discussed herein. The first subset of cards is termed "worthless" in that they constitute a predetermined number of cards that have no value in a game. The second subset of cards is termed "loser" in that the receipt of such a card causes the player to immediately lose the hand. A third subset of cards is termed "player specific" cards. When the player receives the special player card and the card corresponds to a separate identifier of the player, the card assumes special meaning--e.g., a wild card. If it does not correspond, it assumes a different meaning--e.g., a "worthless" card in the play of that hand. A fourth subset of cards is termed "contingent" cards. When the player receives the contingent card and the player has a winning hand (for example, a winning like-kind group of cards) the presence of a contingent card in his or her hand adds additional payoff value. If the player does not have a winning combination in the hand, the card is worthless. Hence, the contingent card has a value contingent on what other cards are present in the hand. A final subset of cards is termed "win" cards. When the player receives the win card, the player automatically wins.